Basketball Bears Begin Home Stand Saturday Afternoon

GAME 12 - Missouri State Bears (4-7) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (3-8)
Date and Time	Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018 \| 1:02 p.m.
Location	JQH Arena (11,000) \| Springfield, Mo.
Tickets	UAPB Tickets \| Missouri State students admitted free with BearPass ID
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) \| MSU Radio Network \| Listen Live
Television	ESPN+ (Watch) \| (Mike McClure, Corey Riggs)
Series	Missouri State leads 1-0 \| Last meeting: MSU 85, WKU 80 (11/10/17) [Box Score]
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| UAPB \| MVC Notebook \| MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook \| Athletics Twitter \| Basketball Twitter \| Instagram \| #MSUBears
Promotions	Santa & Cookies in Lobby \| $5 Bleachers \| $15 game-day tickets in Sections E, J, O and P
Up Next	The Bears continue the home stand on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. against William Woods. [WWU Game Tickets]

Box Office Holiday Hours
The Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena will operate with the following hours during the holiday break

Dec 20: closed
Dec 21: JQH open 10-2
Dec 22: JQH open at 10am for MSU Men's Basketball
Dec 23-25: closed
Dec 26-27: JQH and HSC open at 8am all day (in person sales only, no phones)
Dec 28-29: JQH and HSC open at 3 p.m. (in person sales only, no phones)
Dec 30: JQH open at 10 a.m.
Dec 31 - Jan 2: closed
Jan 3 - resume normal 10-5 hours

The Ten Count

The Bears begin a two-game home stand Saturday when they take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the first time in more than 50 years. MSU is 4-0 at JQH Arena this season and averaging 81.2 points per game on their home court.
Senior Jarred Dixon (G, Kansas City, Mo.) needs just 7 points to reach 1,000 for his career (107 games). MSU has had 28 1,000-point scorers in its proud history, but none since Kyle Weems reached the milestone in 2011.
Dixon also needs 3 points to reach 500 career points at home (51 games) and needs 2 steals for 100 in his career. He is the No. 2 all-time scorer at JQH Arena, behind Weems' 982 points.
National Statistical Concern ranks UAPB's Martaveous McKnight No. 1 nationally in offensive production among all junior players.
Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) will be playing in his 100th college game Saturday. Webster ranks 2nd in the MVC and 45th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.84) and is 3rd in the MVC (75th nationally) with 4.9 assists per game. He has dished out 4 or more assists in 8-of-11 games this season.
Obediah Church (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) is 8 points away from 700 for his 107-game career. With 201 career blocks, Church is MSU's all-time leader in shot rejections and just the sixth player in MVC history to eclipse 200 blocks. The two-time MVC All-Defensive Team selection also ranks 6th in the MVC with 1.4 steals per game this season.
The Bears are 106-44 (.706) over their last 150 games at JQH Arena. MSU is also 9-0 all-time at The Q against opponents from Arkansas (1-0 vs. Arkansas, 2-0 vs. Arkansas State, 2-0 vs. UCA, 3-0 vs. Little Rock, 1-0 vs. Philander Smtih). The Bears are also approaching 1 million in JQH Arena home attendance -- just 30,134 shy of that milestone.
Keandre Cook (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) has scored in double figures in 9-of-11 games this season. He ranks 8th in the MVC in scoring (14.6), and is shooting 51.4 percent from 2-point range. Cook has also accounted for 27.5 percent of the Bears' free throw attempts this season, converting 42-of-53 (.792) from the stripe.
As a starter, Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) is shooting 35-of-57 (.614) from the field and averaging 17.2 points per game in those 5 contests. He has scored in double figures in 5-of-6 outings with the Bears. The transfer from USF was declared eligible by the NCAA on Nov. 24.
Kabir Mohammed (Jr., Lagos, Nigeria) ranks 6th in the MVC in offensive rebounds per game (1.9). He is averaging a team-best 9.7 rebounds per 40 minutes.
Missouri State (4-0) and Drake (5-0) are the only MVC teams still undefeated at home this season.

Coach Dana Ford

Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 4-7 (.364) in his first season at Missouri State, including a 4-0 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 61-72 (.459) in his fifth season as a head coach and 0-0 all-time vs. UAPB.
He was introduced as Missouri State's 18th men's basketball coach on March 22, 2018 after coaching the previous four seasons at Tennessee State. The native of Tamms, Illinois was 57-65 (.467) at Tennessee State, including a 52-39 ledger in his last three seasons in Nashville.
Ford, 33, was awarded the Ben Jobe Award in 2016 as the nation's top Division I minority coach. That same year, he was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 19 Coach of the Year after engineering one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history, swaying Tennessee State from a 5-26 record in his first season to a 20-11 mark in 2015-16.
He coached five All-OVC players in addition to two players recognized on the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Under his leadership, Tennessee State also doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll during the 2016-17 season.
TheAthletic.com named Bears' head coach Dana Ford to its list of 30 "up and coming coaches to keep an eye on" during its 2018-19 preseason basketball coverage.

Series History

Missouri State leads the all-time series with UAPB, 2-0, with both wins coming at home.
The teams have not played since March 10, 1967 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Regionals at McDonald Arena in Springfield.
MSU also defeated the Lions, 88-80, on Nov. 30, 1962, also at McDonald Arena.

Rebound Foundation

Bears' head coach Dana Ford and his wife, Christina, are founders of the Rebound Foundation. The not-for-profit raises funds and awareness to help renew and restore women who have experienced a life of domestic abuse. The foundation provides a stable home and fresh start to abuse victims and their children. The Rebound Foundation currently provides homes in Springfield, Mo., and Chicago, Ill.

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